DeSantis already designated CAIR a terrorist organization in December.
Now House Speaker Paul Renner just went one step further.
And Paul Renner told Florida voters exactly what he plans to do about it if elected governor.
What Renner Put on the Table
Speaking in Tampa Tuesday, Renner laid out a hard-line platform that went straight at radical Islam and the foreign-funded networks enabling it.
He called for cutting public funding to any school promoting Sharia concepts.
He called for designating groups with terrorist ties – specifically naming CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood – as terrorist organizations under Florida law, and prosecuting entities with terrorism connections.
He called for a permanent federal ban on Muslim immigration, citing national security threats funded by foreign nations.
He proposed denaturalizing and deporting immigrants convicted of terrorism-related offenses, fraud against taxpayers, or other serious crimes.
And he proposed banning "no-go" zones and enforcing sanitation laws in all licensed slaughterhouses.
"As governor, I will protect every Floridian from the threat posed by radical Islam," Renner said. "Sharia law is antithetical to every foundational tenet of our Constitution and is not compatible with the American way of life."
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2036470699565486383?s=20
Why the CAIR Piece Matters
Renner singling out CAIR is not a campaign talking point pulled from thin air.
In the largest terrorism-financing prosecution in American history – the Holy Land Foundation case – federal prosecutors named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator and identified it as an associate of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The FBI severed its formal relationship with CAIR in 2008 after Holy Land Foundation directors were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.
CAIR's own communications specialist, Randall Todd Royer, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to support al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
CAIR's former community affairs director pleaded guilty to three federal counts of bank and visa fraud after channeling funds to terrorism-linked activities.
The United Arab Emirates – a formal U.S. diplomatic ally – placed CAIR on its terrorism list in 2014.
A bill currently before the 119th Congress, H.R. 4097, would formally designate CAIR as a terrorist organization, citing all of the above and the CAIR executive director's November 2023 statement that he was "happy" about the October 7 attacks.
DeSantis already moved against CAIR in December 2025 via executive order, designating both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations for state purposes.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott did the same. And in January 2026, the Trump administration designated the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations – a step conservatives had sought for years.
Renner's proposal isn't a fringe position. It's the next logical step in a movement that's already reached the White House.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2019198031363776994?s=20
What This Forces the Rest of the Field to Answer
Byron Donalds has Trump's endorsement and $31 million in the bank.
What he doesn't have is a position on any of this.
Donalds hasn't said where he stands on cutting school funding for Sharia promotion.
He hasn't said whether he'd use Florida's new terrorist designation law – the one sitting on DeSantis's desk right now – to go after CAIR.
He hasn't said a word about the Muslim Brotherhood or the foreign funding networks Renner named in Tampa.
Florida primary voters are the same people who cheered DeSantis taking on Disney, killing COVID mandates, and going after woke corporations.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated CAIR a terrorist organization the same week DeSantis did.
https://twitter.com/Paul_Renner/status/1996008114680738232?s=20
The state legislature just handed the next governor a tool to designate any group with terrorist ties.
The Trump administration designated the Muslim Brotherhood's Middle East branches in January.
The entire machinery is pointed in the direction Renner is running.
Donalds will eventually have to answer whether he plans to use that machinery – or let it sit. Renner just made sure that question gets asked.
A grassroots straw poll of Duval County Republicans last week gave Renner 57% – double what Donalds pulled among the activists who actually knock on doors and write checks in the primary.
That's the game Renner is playing. Not polling leads. Door-knockers.
Sources:
- Florida's Voice, "Paul Renner Tops Duval GOP Straw Poll in 2026 Governor's Race," Florida's Voice, March 19, 2026.
- Florida Politics, "Byron Donalds Continues to Dominate Jay Collins, Paul Renner in GOP Primary Poll," Florida Politics, October 2025.
- Florida Fabrizio Lee & Associates poll via Florida Phoenix, "Latest 2026 Florida GOP Gubernatorial Poll Shows Byron Donalds Blowing Away the Rest of the Field," Florida Phoenix, January 2026.
- Congress.gov, "H.R.4097 – Designate CAIR as a Terrorist Organization Act," 119th Congress, 2025–2026.
- Senator Tom Cotton, "Cotton to Long: Investigate CAIR for Ties to Terrorists," U.S. Senate Press Release, 2025.
- Florida Senate Staff Analysis, "House Bill 1209 – CAIR," Florida Senate, 2024.
- Al Jazeera English, "Florida Lists Muslim Rights Group CAIR a Terrorist Organisation," December 9, 2025.
